The wind was ruffling the water, driving it into a great wave that curled up along the middle of the lake, looking for anything like the coils of a giant serpent. The boat hit the wave full-on. It became airborne. For what seemed like an eternity it soared, flying over the surface of the water, then it rose straight up, flipped, bounced and broke apart, with pieces flying in all directions. The wave subsided. There was silence. Small pieces of blue floated on the oily surface of the lake.

I found I was running along the shoreline, yelling, “Podge. Not Podge.”

Darcy caught up with me. “Georgie. Come on, I’ll take you home. There’s nothing you can do here.”

“But he might still be alive.”

“If he was in that boat, he won’t be. But you told them where to find him. I’m sure he’s safe.”

I found I was holding my breath all the way up the drive to Castle Rannoch. As the car came to a halt outside the front steps, the door opened and Fig came running out to meet me, with Binky behind her, hobbling on crutches.

“Georgiana, thank God you’re safe,” she said.

“Never mind about me. What about Podge?”

“In his bed, sleeping,” she said.

“They found him in time, then?”

“Thanks to your wonderful grandfather. He saw you driving off in a car and he was sensible enough to note the license plate number. The police found the car right away and discovered my little boy in the boot. Imagine doing that to a child. That woman is a monster. I hope they catch her.”

“She’s dead,” I said.

“She always was reckless.” Major Padgett looked across at his wife, who sat silent and grieving in their cold, dreary drawing room. “Even when she was a small child she took risks and didn’t respect boundaries. Too much like her father, I’m afraid.”

“She claimed her father was the Duke of Clarence,” I said.

“Did she tell you that?”

I nodded. “But her birth certificate gives her father’s name as Eddy Axton. Not royal at all.”

“Eddy Avon,” he said. “I tried to alter it.”

“Why? Who is Eddy Avon?”

“The Duke of Clarence was also known as the Earl of Avonlea and among the family he was always known as Eddy.” Major Padgett sighed. “I knew it would come out eventually. How can such a monstrous secret remain hidden? It has eaten into me all these years.”

“Then it really was true that he was kidnapped and kept alive? He didn’t die of influenza?”

He sighed. “I’m afraid so.”

“You were one of the people who kidnapped him? Who held him prisoner in a mental institution?” I looked at him with undisguised revulsion.